Role of the Reconstruction Agency

The Reconstruction Agency is the principal agency of the Government of Japan tasked with leading and managing the reconstruction process following the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which precipitated the triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.The Agency's main role is to accelerate structural reconstruction and revitalization in the affected areas, by supporting implementation of government policies and managing coordination of reconstruction strategy and initiatives between various branches of government at a national level and with local municipalities.

Established on February 10, 2012 with a 10 year mandate, the Reconstruction Agency was created under terms set out in the Basic Act on Reconstruction as the successor to the "Reconstruction Headquarters in Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake", which coordinated initial response efforts in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Its main principles and priorities are based on the Basic Guidelines for Reconstruction, which were published by the Reconstruction Headquarters on July 29, 2011 and provide a blueprint for the overall reconstruction process.

Working closely with the national and local governments as well as the private sector, the Reconstruction Agency supervises a wide spectrum of activities. In addition to providing essential human services to those affected by the disaster such as the construction of temporary housing, the Agency also works to promote local economic revival through tax and investment incentives and other measures, and provides support to public-private reconstruction related initiatives in the region.

Headed by the Prime Minister, the Agency is led by Minister for Reconstruction Wataru Takeshita and currently employs more than 330 people. The Agency's headquarters in Tokyo are supported by regional operations throughout the Tohoku region. In the case of Fukushima, the government established the "Fukushima Headquarters for Reconstruction and Revitalization" in 2013, as part of efforts to accelerate reconstruction, to work in parallel with a newly established "Tokyo Headquarters for Fukushima Reconstruction and Revitalization" based at the Reconstruction Agency. The Fukushima Headquarters for Reconstruction and Revitalization brings together the Fukushima Regional Bureau of Reconstruction, the Fukushima Office for Environmental Restoration working to coordinate decontamination efforts in areas impacted by the nuclear accident, and the local Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters, focused on reviewing zoning of the area around the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Situation Overview

About the March 2011 DisasterAt 14:46 JST on March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake - now known as the Great East Japan Earthquake - struck off the pacific coast of Japan's Tohoku region, resulting in a national crisis that had a broad impact throughout the nation. The earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami, which devastated much of the Tohoku coastal area and precipitated the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.